Elk M1 Gold system and back-up generator

[SIMKO]

I just bought my ELK M1 system (literally an hour ago from AO) and while I'm waiting for the stuff to arrive, I'm going to start running some circuits and cutting up some drywall. I got quotes from AO, ASI, and SetNet... AO had the best prices by far. Cocoontech discount FTW!

My first question...most likely the first in a long line of questions to come... is should I power the alarm panel from a circuit on the back-up generator panel or will the interruption in power cause the system to go into an 'unarmed' state that would make it useless anyways?

I have a propane Guardian generator with an automatic transfer switch that switches power over after the utility service has been down for a short while and switches back when utility power returns.

When the transfer switch changes over to the generator, will the ELK M1 rearm itself after a short period?

Or maybe I'm thinking to much about this and I should just pull power from the closest outlet and call it a day rather than putting the alarm on it's own circuit.

 

[TexTech]

Simko:
Your Elk M1G is designed to operate from a rechargeable backup battery when power is lost.  The package you purchased from AO likely includes one of these batteries -- but even if it doesn't, the M1G comes out of the box equipped to charge a backup battery and automatically rely on it if utility power is lost. The manual provides the details on the type of battery you need.
The length of time your system can run on the backup battery depends on your specific configuration.  The good news is that the M1G will not disarm when utility power is lost and it switches to battery power.
At my house, I have a generator with an automatic transfer switch, and I do power the alarm system with a circuit that has generator backup.  As a result, when the power fails, my M1G battery only has to support the system for about a minute, which is how long it takes my generator to start up and restore power.  I would certainly recommend that you use a generator-backed circuit for your alarm panel.
Good Luck!
-Tex

 

[SIMKO]

Thanks for the response.

The package I bought (M1GK no/can) has the back-up battery so I should be all set. My generator also kicks on after about 60 seconds, so the battery would only need to carry it that long.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all of the things that I have to do to get this up and going, but I know once I get into it and it starts 'clicking', things will go much smoother. Until then, bear with me and my questions.

Thanks!

 

[SIMKO]

Ok... I have another one.... What about the modem and router? Is there a good way to put those on back-up power or would I need to buy a small UPS back-up to keep them online.

 

[Linwood]

I would recommend that you not depend on the modem and router in a power outage for any of the critical features such as fire or burgular monitoring. Networks fail for far more reasons than just power outage. Some people use only network for alarm reporting -- I'm not in the security field, but I am in the computer field, and it just seems foolish to depend on home networks.

That said, you will find a UPS easier than trying to power router and modem from an alarm power supply. With a generator in most cases you would not need much of a UPS for that 60 seconds.

 

[SIMKO]

Thanks. I'm using a land-line and cellular back-up for alarm reporting, but I'd still like to have the network available for remote monitoring and control when the power goes down. Looks like a small UPS might be in my future. For now, I'll just hope everything boots back up properly when the generator kicks on.

 

[pmb1010]

You might want to ensure that your ISP is still going to function during a neighbood power outage. Even though all my house stuff is on UPS & generator, Time Warner must have something in the neighborhood on a pole somewhere, on line power. My internet goes down if the local power is out....

I found that out the other day when I was home & the power went out... I have a rule for power monitoring (sends me email when pwr goes out and goes back on) and the email never got out. Now I have the power rule to call my cell phone number via the HAI C3. I wish there was a way to have the HAI send a text message instead.

 

[chrisexv6]

I had my network router, switch, etc on a UPS without even having a security system...came in VERY handy after TS Irene. Unfortunately the cable co. went out eventually as well, but for most of the first day I had no power, I did have network. And the UPS gave me plenty of time to setup my generator (portable unit with an xfer panel installed).

I plan on plugging the Elk into outlets that are already on a lightly used generator circuit, even if I have to tap into the circuit and run a box right to where the Elk is installed.

 

[happy_again]

I have a small UPS from Tripp-lite, Model 900U(480W unit), feeding power to my DSL modem, router and my Elk XEP. It seems to work for me for the light load connected to it. I had a 15 min power outage and had these devices communicate over that period of time without any innteruptions. The Elk M1(which has its own battery backup) sent me a text message that there was a power failure and then another message telling me AC power was restored.

I don't know how long it would continue to supply the back up power, but I really didn't care.. I just wanted to know that the home had lost power. Granted I would have been SOL if a tree had taken down my phone line as well, but that was not the case(this time).

This is a vacation home and I need to know if I have to take a trip up to try to salvage the refrigerator contents or not...

Hope this helps..

 

[SIMKO]

Great input.... I just got done talking with the IT guy here at work who also has a home security/automation system and he told me the exact same thing that pmp1010 mentioned... Make sure that the ISP is still up when power is off or the UPS might be a moot point. I'm guessing the only real way to find this out is to wait for the next power outage and see... LOL

Like you guys mentioned, I really only want to know that power is out and when/if it turns back on. Email, text, phone call, whatever I can do to make it happen.

 

[tmbrown97]

As crappy as it is, in my neighborhood, cellular is also useless during a power outage. Not why you'd think though - the towers don't lose power, but everyone in a 3,000 home neighborhood immediately pulls out their phone to call their friends and fire up facebook to complain to their friends about the outage, making the cellular networks absolutely useless (along with AT&T cellular backups).

 

[BLH]

My land line goes through a small phone company interface in a equipment shack at the end of the street.
When power goes out, it has back up batteries that last maybe an hour. Then the land lines are also dead. Until they exchange the batteries or wheel a generator up to it and run it that way.
I have also had cell phone tower loose power and go dead.

 

[chrisexv6]

As crappy as it is, in my neighborhood, cellular is also useless during a power outage. Not why you'd think though - the towers don't lose power, but everyone in a 3,000 home neighborhood immediately pulls out their phone to call their friends and fire up facebook to complain to their friends about the outage, making the cellular networks absolutely useless (along with AT&T cellular backups).

Poor AT&T....Irene was a huge mess for them around here: their DSL units on the poles only had 6 or 7 hours of battery backup built in. After a whole day out I guess enough people complained that they were actually buying and chaining generators to the poles to feed the DSL boxes. Id hate to be the crew that has to just go around and gas the darn things up every day!

 

[Del91574]

They weren't the only ones with issues, the problem really with ATT and the others that use ONT's and local power for ISP based services. POTS and any other regulated utility services, while affected to some extent, weren't affected as much as the ISP based units.

I didn't have any issues to report with cellular on any of the GSM units on the panels I have out there with loss of signal or drops (rule based and heartbeat on Uplink to Elk M1's).

 

[tmbrown97]

From my experience, the FCC generally requires 4 forms of power for E911 stability... I've personally toured some of the local LECs and they had dual-grid systems - power fed from two different grids originating from different parts of town; backed up by battery; backed up by generators (with fuel trucks on contract); backed up by generator trucks with giant generator plugs on the exterior of the building. A facility like that won't go down unless it's literally under water.

Now that a large percentage of the world is ditching the land-line, it's time the same standards were applied to cellular. Where I live, we're kind of at the end of the chain, and I have experienced first-hand, every time there's a power outage (rare - twice/year) it lasts about 8 hours, and AT&T is completely useless. The towers seem to have power; I still see strong signals, but you can't get a call or a data packet to move - so I can only assume it's either overloaded by the people bitching on facebook about cooking under candle light, or another part of the chain doesn't have sufficient power backup and is just down.